Couch potato Scotland

Published:19:00Saturday 30 April 2016

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Scotland is a nation of couch potatoes, with almost half of us failing to undertake any cardio exercise whatsoever, according to new research.

The study also revealed that people in Northern Ireland were the biggest couch potatoes in the whole of the UK with a massive 58 per cent admitting to no cardio exercise whatsoever. This compared with 53 per cent in Scotland, 47 per cent in England and 51 per cent in Wales.

The study, undertaken by YouGov on behalf sports nutrition company Predator Nutrition, looked at the lifestyle habits of more than 2,000 men and women from across the UK.

Almost half said they did no cardio exercise at all, with a further 25 per cent saying they did one hour a week or less.

That means only around one quarter of the population are exercising for more than an hour each week. Women were more likely to be couch potatoes than men with 50 per cent of all women saying they did no cardio compared with 45 per cent of men.

Almost one in five of us said climbing an average flight of stairs would leave us out of breath, with three per cent saying they would be gasping for air by the top.

Worryingly, it seems more and more of us are choosing to spend our free time sitting around on our backsides with eight per cent admitting to sitting down for 11 hours or more every day. While more than a third said they sat down for at least seven hours every day.

The study also revealed that a massive 16 per cent of UK adults admitted to eating sugary and processed food every day while almost two thirds of us said they ate them at least once each week.

Only a tiny minority, six per cent, claimed to eat their recommended five portions of fruit and veg each week with two per cent saying they ate no fruit and veg whatsoever and more than a fifth saying they ate less than seven portions a week.

A spokesman for Predator Nutrition said: “With obesity on the rise in the UK it is disappointing to discover that so many of us are still not finding the time to exercise.

“We hope our study will highlight that more needs to be done to encourage people to quit their bad habits and adopt a healthier lifestyle.”